


I Doubt I'd Ever Forget Meeting You

by GivenNotStolen



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: AU Regina never cast the curse but someone else might have, F/M, Oq, Outlaw Queen - Freeform, Outlawqueen - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-26
Updated: 2018-06-24
Packaged: 2019-05-14 03:09:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14761463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GivenNotStolen/pseuds/GivenNotStolen
Summary: Imagine Regina had walked into that tavern all these years ago and everything had changed and went surprisingly quite well until someone else cast a curse.A very well known Dark Curse. ... Outlaw Queen. Hood Mills Family. Rating will likely change for later chaps. Most characters from the show will be in it. But it's an OQ/HoodMills centered piece.





	1. 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I've had this idea of a new Outlaw Queen multichapter. I hope you like it. Please let me know.  
> Imagine Regina had walked into that tavern all these years ago and everything had changed and went surprisingly quite well until someone else cast a curse.

_Once upon a time_

_There was a magical forest filled with fairy tale characters._

_One day a powerful curse trapped them in a city which had no magic._

_And each of them forgot who the really were._

_This is how it happened..._

**I Doubt I'd Ever Forget Meeting You**

** _Somewhere in a bar in Maine in a town named Storybrooke_ **

"Locksley, I'm afraid but you and your band of merry men have to leave", she said looking at his sad face on the other side of the bar.

The man in front of her wasn't drunk but he wasn't sober either. He was a bit intoxicated as every other night when he and his friends would visit her bar for some after work drinks.

"Please, Ms Mills", the man said pouting, "just one more round."

She was walking around to his side now trying to avoid getting lost in the man's beautiful blue eyes and walking past him to the door to unlock it so everyone could go home.  
Like most nights she had closed down the bar about an hour before to clean up whilst the few men hung around because for some reason they never really wanted to leave.

"Come on mate," Will said then, "let's give the lady a chance to go home to her family as well."

The mention of Regina's kids finally knocked some kind of sense into Robin as he slowly walked to the others who were all gathering by the front door. He knew that the bar owner's kids were her everything and he couldn't bear to be the reason for her to not be with them even though he didn't like to go home to his wife himself.

It took Regina a good fifteen minute walk to get home to her little house close to the forest. Well technically it wasn't hers. It belonged to Mr. Gold and was the only affordable place she could find to rent that was almost big enough to have enough room to house her two boys and her slightly demented father.  
His condition wasn't that bad as of now but Regina felt like it was getting worse every few weeks. It wasn't like he forgot who he was or anything. It was more like he kept rambling on that they all used to live in some kind of fairy tale land with witches, castles, portals and magic beans and all these things.

She turned the key and opened the door letting herself in as quietly as possible before walking into the kitchen where she found her father as every night sitting in the dark with a glass of water in front of him.

"Why are you still up?", she asked him, "I told you a thousand times before you can go to bed as soon as Roland and Henry are asleep."

"I was just getting myself a glass of water", he lied. After all he was her father and even though she was a grown up and had two kids of the ages of ten and fifteen years old she would always be his little girl and he just wanted to know that she got home safely.

There was a moment of silence before he asked, "did the mayor's husband keep you longer at work again as usual?"

"Only a couple of minutes", Regina said glancing at the clock which read 23 minutes past two.

"We should head to bed", Regina's dad said and she nodded in agreement.

He walked of to his room and Regina went towards hers when she heard a rather silent whimper from the boys' room.

She walked into their room and crouched down next to her youngest's bed, "Henry? Henry, everything's fine. You're safe."

"Moooom", he mumbled into her shirt sobbing.

"What's wrong?", she asked.

"I", he said as Regina lifted his head wiping away his tears, "I dreamt that they took Roland."

"You dreamt that who took Roland?"

"They", Henry said, „the flying monkeys."

"Oh but you see, he's right over there and perfectly alright and snoring a little like he always does", Regina said pointing to Roland's bed in the other corner of the room.

Henry nodded as he was calming down.

"I need to tell grandpa again to stop telling you all these stories."

"But grandpa said that the mayor is actually a witch who had been haunting your land with the help of her army of flying monkeys."

"Henry, none of that is true as I've told you before. There are no flying monkeys. And we should go to sleep you have school tomorrow. Do you want to come to my room to sleep? Maybe that will be less scary?"

"Ok mommy", the young boy said and Regina scooped him up carrying him over to her room which was right next door.

"But Roland also says that grandpa's stories are true", Henry said then settling into his mother's bed, "why is it so cold in your room, mom?"

"Because I haven't been here the whole day", Regina said changing her clothes before climbing into her bed next to her son. It wasn't a lie. Not completely. It was already fall again. September came and went and now it was the end of October once again and she wasn't able to spent any money heating up a room that wasn't really used.  
She was glad that her dad was able to take care of her kids whilst she was working and she hoped his condition wouldn't get worse otherwise she wouldn't know what to do with her children and how to pay any medical treatment her father may need.

Henry was asleep a few minutes later and she was slowly falling asleep as well telling herself that in the morning she would have to tell Roland not to encourage Henry's wild imagination with her father's stories any further.

Her two boys and her father meant everything to her. Even though or maybe more so because the boys father('s) never played a part in their life.  
Strangely enough Regina couldn't even remember the life she had before Roland. Not that she wanted to remember it but the farthest she could recall her life was when Roland had been about a toddler's age.  
Later on at one point she had just opened the door one day and found a basket in front of it with a baby inside wrapped in a blanket. No note, nothing. She had of course taken the young boy in and had tried for weeks on to find clues on his parents but to no avail and eventually she only had two options. Adopt him or let child services take him away.

** _Someplace in the Enchanted Forest (about thirty four years prior)_ **

_There she was in front of the door of a tavern. Only moments ago Tinkerbell had been here with her. But more quickly than she could react her new fairy friend had left her on her own._  
_She took a deep breath._  
_'So this was gonna be it. The man with the lion tattoo,' she thought and then opened the door and walked into the building before she could make up her mind._  
_Of course she was nervous but ever since she met Tinkerbell earlier she had the feeling that she could trust her and after all she was a fairy, wasn't she?_  
_She never really had a friend. At least not since, since Daniel. But she quickly pushed the thought of him out of her mind. As much as it still hurt her, Daniel was her past. And aside that he wouldn't want her to be miserable. He would want her to be happy again, that much she knew._  
_So there she was now in that tavern. She was making her way over to the bar. She knew she had to give the man with the lion tattoo a chance but first she needed a drink._  
_A drink and at least a part of a plan on how to make an entrance in his life._

_"John? John, did you hear a word I said?", Robin asked his friend that was sitting in front of him on the other side of the table he shared with a few of his friends._

_John didn't say anything but kept staring somewhere behind Robin._

_Robin waved his hand in front of John's eyes which eventually got his attention, "pardon, what?"_

_Robin smiled a little, "what could possibly distract you from talking about our current problems with Nottingham?"_

_It took a moment until John said something, "she", he said. Almost whispered it._

_And that was when curiosity took over and Robin slowly turned his head around. He didn't want to be caught staring but he wanted to know what distracted his dear friend so much._  
_And there she was walking towards the bar. The most beautiful woman he had ever seen._  
_She didn't really seem to belong in this tavern. She looked young. She wasn't overdressed but something about her made him doubt she really came from around here._  
_And then it dawned on him. He took a closer look at her face. He had seen that face before. It was her. Not long ago this very woman got married to King Leopold._  
_What was the Queen doing in this tavern? It was far away from their castle. Aside that she looked beautiful right now but not even close to being a Queen._

_He turned his head back to look at John then he took a sip of his drink._

_"John, can you please keep the others company I need to do something", Robin said and waited for John to nod before he excused himself to the rest of his friends and got up from his chair to walk over to the bar._

_He doubted anyone had recognised her yet and he wanted to keep it that way. If she came all the way up here for a drink she most definitely didn't want to be recognised._  
_But he was curious to why she was here and couldn't help himself. He had to find out. Aside that ever since he had seen a drawing of her face, a little while ago when she got married to the King, he couldn't help himself but smile._  
_He had to admit though that image of her face didn't give her justice. She was far prettier in real life._  
_To him she was the fairest of them all._

_She had downed half of her drink when she heard footsteps coming closer and stopping right next to her. Before she could even turn her head around to see who it was, she heard him whisper in her ear, "I'm just curious but what is her Majesty doing all the way down here?"_

_That voice sent shivers down her spine. Also the fact that someone had already recognised her made her panic a little._  
_She turned around and was immediately being face to face with the man with the lion tattoo._

_"Don't panic", he quickly said as he saw that his words must have scared her at least a little bit, "I doubt anyone has noticed that."_

_Her face softened a little and a small smile formed on her lips._  
_She couldn't recall to have ever met that man before but maybe she had? Maybe he was somehow a person that had been to her castle? There were so many people around her every day she might have seen him before._

_"Have, have we met before?", she asked him therefore._

_"I doubt I'd ever forget meeting you", he said smiling and she couldn't help herself but getting lost into the cerulean ocean in his eyes that somehow made her heart jump._

_He continued, "I've seen some images of you", he said._

_Of course she knew there's been drawings and paintings of her because of recent events._

_He kept on talking then, "but to be honest, none of them do you justice."_

_"Thank you", she said blushing a little bit._

_Robin turned to the bartender, "Can we have two of 'what she's having'?", he asked._

_"Sure mate, coming right up", the bartender said and in mere seconds their drinks were ready._

_Robin paid him before turning back to Regina, "would you mind taking this conversation outside?", he asked her, "I mean it's a beautiful evening and I could use some fresh air."_

_She nodded, "I'd love to."_

_They both grabbed their drinks, before leaving the tavern together just to sit right outside of it on one of the few benches that where always occupied at day time but usually not at all at that time of night._

_"So you know who I am, but who are you?", Regina asked the man who was now sitting beside her._

_He turned to face her, taking her hand in his in the process, "apologies, Milady", he said as he kissed her hand which made her smile, "I'm Robin. Robin of Locksley."_

_"And how come Robin of Locksley ended up in that tavern here tonight?", she asked him._

_He could see and hear that she didn't want to know how he got here this particular evening but how he ended up being here in general._  
_He had never told anyone about his life so far. Not even his friends, the so called 'merry men' knew all about his past. But for some reason he felt at ease with her._

 _"My farther died when I was very young so I grew up with my mother and her new husband and his daughter. It was only years later that I noticed what a cruel man he was and I begged my mother to leave him. But she couldn't. She was depending on him. She had to feed the two children and wouldn't be able to do that without him._  
_Ever since I was a little boy though I dreamed of becoming a knight", he smiled at that image and Regina could stare at that face of his for the rest of her life._

_"So that's what I did. I became a knight. My plan was to save enough money so my mother would eventually be able to leave that bastard of a husband", he sighed._

_"What happened?", Regina asked as she noticed that his plan must have never worked out that way._

_"Well", Robin continued still holding her hand in his, "one day I couldn't take it anymore. I", he lowered his eyes, "I killed him."_

_Regina was speechless for a moment but then placed her other hand under his chin causing him to look into her eyes, "it's in the past and from what I heard about that man he might just have deserved it."_

_Robin smiled at her, "so you're not mad at me?"_

_"I don't have any right to be mad at you and besides I would have probably done the exact same thing", she said, "so what happened then?"_

_"Well according to his will my dear stepsister got everything leaving my mother with nothing. I could convince her though to make sure my mother would be able to survive for the rest of her life. In return she never wanted to see my face again._  
_She didn't know that I was the one who killed him but she had her suspicions._  
_So well, I left. Haven't had a chance to see my mother again since then because she's still living with my stepsister which I do think is good for both of them."_

_"But.. you miss her", Regina stated the obvious._

_"Of course I do", Robin said, "but it's best for her. And well now I'm living in the woods with a few friends."_

_"How do you survive here?", Regina asked him._

_"In the beginning I still had a bit of my money left from being a knight", Robin said, "but then we started to steal from the rich and give to the poor", he almost swallowed the last part of the sentence._

_To his surprise Regina laughed, "a thief?"_

_He nodded._

_"I've lost my wife a few months ago and today's the first night in a long time that I'm spending without my son because my friends all thought I'd have to go out again for once before we'll be chased again by the Sheriff."_

_"I'm sorry to hear about your wife", she said, then asked, "what does the Sheriff want from you?"_

_Robin laughed, "my head on a spike and lots of money."_

_"So tell me your story", he said, "I doubt it is worse than mine. What brings the Queen to a tavern far away from her castle?"_

_"Well first of", Regina began, "it's not my castle. It's the King's castle. I never wanted any of this. I never wanted to marry him. My mother made me marry him. I had a boyfriend. But one day I saved the King's daughter. And for doing that he asked me to marry him. It was my mother who agreed on it. However the King's daughter, Snow. She, she saw me with my boyfriend and she knew I loved my boyfriend. I begged her not to tell anyone but somehow she ended up telling my mother about it."_

_Robin could see how tears started to form in Regina's eyes, "you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."_

_Regina tightened the grip on his hand a little bit, "I have to. I have to tell someone._  
_Well my mother didn't take it well and killed him in front of my eyes."_

_"She what?", Robin asked._

_"Of course I was angry at Snow. But I eventually realised that she wanted to help me and that maybe even without her telling my mother, my mother would've ended up killing him anyway._  
_As for my mother she had always been a complicated person. Long ago she met this strange man who taught her magic. I do know it sounds weird but she is powerful and she gets what she wants. I never ever want to become like her."_

_"You don't have to", Robin said hugging her. He didn't ask for permission because Queen or not to him it was the right thing to do in that moment. She needed someone to be there for her._

_"Thank you", Regina said eventually letting go of him a little so her head was leaning against his shoulder, "well in the past few weeks I've met that powerful man who taught my mother magic, a few times. I, I was angry at Snow so that's why I wanted to meet him the first time._  
_And I was angry at my mother. He gave me a mirror. Well a portal it was, a portal to another land, and at that night of my wedding I had an argument with my mother and I pushed her through it._  
_I, I was angry at her, I still am, sometimes, but she is my mother and I regret doing that._  
_That man however taught me a few things so far but today we had an argument and I told him that I didn't want that anymore. I don't want to become like her and on the other hand I'm married to the King, sitting in a castle with nothing to do._  
_Well after he left today, a fairy came and believe it or not, took me here with her. She said that I had a second chance", Regina stopped, "and showed me a man in the tavern. I couldn't see his face I only saw his tattoo", her eyes wandering along Robin's arm that was still holding her hand._

_"It was me?", he said more than questioned her._

_He smiled as he was tracing the outlines of her face with his thumb silently asking for her permission which she gladly granted him with a smile before he leaned in to leave a light kiss upon her lips._

_"We should probably get you back to your castle though", he said getting up and helping her in the process._

_"Wait a moment", he said and left before she could even protest._

_A minute later he reappeared followed by a horse and holding a cloak in his arm._

_"You should put it on", he said and gave the cloak to her, "it's getting colder and maybe someone will recognise you on the way."_

_"Thank you", Regina said gladly taking his cloak and putting the hood up over her head. The fabric smelled a lot like him. Such a wonderful smell of forest._

_He helped her on his horse before climbing on it as well._

_"Let me", Regina said and took control over where their journey was going to go to. Much to Robin's surprise. He smiled holding onto her. He knew this situation they were currently in would probably give them some more challenges to overcome but somehow he was confident._  
_And after all pixie dust never lies._

 _For the next few hours they were riding through the forest towards the castle. They didn't talk much on the way just enjoying each others company._  
_It was almost dawn when they reached the edge of the forest and stopped. Robin got off the horse first and wanted to help her down then only to discover that she didn't need his help._  
_She was standing right in front of him taking off his cloak._

_"You can keep it", said Robin._

_Regina smiled, "I wish I could but I can't. The King will notice or someone else will notice it for him that that cloak isn't mine and a bit to long to belong to a woman. And I don't want to risk anything."_

_"You're right, I didn't think", Robin said._

_"And you might need it on your way back", she said, "I'm so sorry that you have to go all the way back. It will take you ages."_

_Robin cupped her cheek in his palm, "Don't be. It was very well worth it."_

_She gave him a quick kiss on his lips, "I should be going."_

_"Will I-", he started his sentence but was cut off by her laughter._

_"Of course. How about tomorrow, well today?", she said._

_"Afternoon?", he asked._

_"Sundown would be perfect."_

_He grabbed her hand and kissed it, "sundown, here it is then."_

_She turned around and walked away quickly but not without turning back around again and smiling at him._  
_He got back on his horse but kept standing there until she had completely vanished from his sight._  
_He had to admit to himself that of course she was beautiful. He had known that before as he told her as well. But that wasn't what really made him want to have her by his side for the rest of his life. He had seen many beautiful women before._  
_She had captured his heart with her soul. And her eyes. He couldn't deny that he had to fight not to get lost in their warmth._  
_But more importantly it was everything about her. The way she listened to every word he said and the way she had told him her story. She had been through so much and still she believed that she could have a second chance. With him._  
_He had to smile at that. Yes this woman had just stolen something from a thief. She had perfectly well managed to steal his heart._  
_Eventually he put his cloak on that smelled of her now which made him grin like an idiot, before riding off._

 _A few minutes later Regina had made it to her room. Luckily she didn't run into anyone at the palace. She closed the door to her room and leaned against it._  
_That was when she realised that someone was sitting on her bed._

_"Tink?", she said, walking towards her fairy friend, "what are you doing here?"_

_The fairy smiled, "waiting for you. How was it?"_

_Regina couldn't help but smile back._

_"I see", Tink said, "but I still want to know all about it."_

_"It was, it was the best night I ever had", Regina said._

_Tinkerbell looked a bit shocked, "you s-?"_

_"No, no", Regina said laughing, "not what you think. We just, we talked a lot. And he took me home from the tavern on his horse. It felt so good to be around him. Comfortable. Like coming home. I was happy around him and I think he enjoyed it as much as I did."_

_"That sounds perfect", said the fairy._

_"Well that it was", said Regina, "but it will be complicated, I guess."_

_Tinkerbell smiled, "well for today it was perfect. And as for the future you will see what's to come. Take one step at a time."_

_Regina smiled, "I can't thank you enough", she said. And that was true. She couldn't thank Tinkerbell enough because for now she had faith. And hope._

_"It would be enough for me to see the two of you being happy together", Tinkerbell said._

_Regina almost started crying, "wow that. No one has ever...", she couldn't even put it into words._

_"Well that's what friends are for", the fairy said smiling._

_"Friends?", Regina asked hugging the fairy._

_"Friends", she stated then slowly moved out of Regina's embrace, "you should catch a bit of sleep and I should go as well."_

_"Yeah of course", Regina said._

_"See you around", the fairy said before transforming back into the small winged creature she was and flew off leaving Regina's room in a slight green glow for a little while._

_It took Robin hours until he arrived in his camp. But he didn't regret one second of the time he invested in meeting her._  
_Quietly he put his horse back in its place and made his way over to his tent. It wasn't the first time that he came back early in the morning and he was a thief. So being quiet was something he was used to._  
_When he made it to his tent he was surprised though to see 'little' John sitting on his usual sleeping place. That man was everything but 'little' after all._

_"Why are you awake?", Robin asked but already knew the answer._

_"Have you lost your mind?", John asked him._

_Robin grinned, "just my heart, John. Just my heart."_

_"Seriously Robin", John said, "have you lost your marbles? I don't know who that woman is but something tells me that we might be in some trouble because of her."_

_"I'm serious John", Robin said, "I've never felt the way I felt in her company."_

_"Ah so that's it then, she's good in bed", John said._

_Robin glared at John, "we didn't. And even if that's none of anyone's business."_

_John sighed, "so what is it then? What does she have that no one else has?"_

_"It's everything about her, John", Robin said and John could see in Robin's face how true his words really were, "her personality, her smile, her eyes, her face, everything."_

_"But?", John asked. He knew there was something. There was always something. Otherwise that woman would be standing next to Robin right here, this instant._

_"We're going to be in a lot of trouble", Robin said._

_"Let me guess, she's married", John said more than asked._

_"Well you could say that", Robin had to laugh._

_"Don't tell me you've fallen for the wife of a Sheriff or something."_

_"Well."_

_"It's Nottingham, isn't it?", John asked, "please don't let it be Nottingham."_

_"King Leopold", Robin said and as soon as his words had reached John's ears he wished it was Nottingham's wife._

_"Oh dear. Nottingham would have been easier", John said. Then continued, "so you're... You're sure that you want it? She's worth it?" John already knew the answers._

_He knew Robin and he could read his face like an open book. Aside that Robin didn't talk often about what he wanted but when he did then he really wanted that._  
_Robin nodded._

_And that was all that John needed, "ok. We're gonna do this", he said smiling, "we'll help you, Robin. We'll do everything we can for you. But you already know that."_

_There were a few tears on Robin's face by now and John quickly got on his feet to hug his friend, "thank you", was what Robin whispered in his ear, "thank you so much. You don't know how much it means to me."_

_"Us", he said, "we're all in this together now."_

_Regina was lying wide a wake in her bed for most of the night after Tinkerbell had left._  
_All kinds of thoughts were running through her mind._  
_She was smiling. She was smiling when she thought about him._  
_Smiling the way that she did just a couple of hours ago when she was still with him. Smiling like she hadn't been doing so in such a long time before he came along. Before he and Tinkerbell came along who showed her that maybe, maybe perhaps a second chance was possible._  
_The situation was a mess. She wasn't just any married woman. No, she was the Queen. His situation was a little bit easier to handle but to be honest not the best one either. So they would have to come up with something really good to make this work._  
_But she knew one thing. She would try. She would try everything and as hard as she could to make this work._

_Robin was worth it._

_She has had only met him hours ago but he had stolen her heart in this short amount of time entirely._  
_He would be the one thing in her life that was worth fighting for. And so she swore to herself that she would._  
_She would fight for him. For them. To make this work. She would give up everything just to be with him. To be happy._  
_She didn't need all the fancy food from all over the world that she had at the castle or expensive dresses. She didn't need hundreds of people around her that pretended to care about her but didn't._  
_She just needed happiness._  
_She needed a home in this world._  
_And as of now she knew a part of this world. A big part, was him. Him and also Tinkerbell. And the rest, she hoped, would somehow settle around that._


	2. 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you soooo soo much for welcoming me here so lovely. :) I love the kudos and comments I've been receiving so far. They really did make me smile and they do encourage me to keep writing or thinking about the story and coming up with new ideas whilst reading your comments on lunch break.  
> So thank you very much for that. It really does mean a lot to me.  
> I initially didn't plan on posting this chapter so soon but this is a thank you for welcoming me here.  
> I'm planing on posting a new chapter like about every week (if possible and real life doesn't get in the way but I think that's quite a good time frame).  
> So without further ado here's the next chapter and I hope you like it. Let me know, please.

 

 

_**The Enchanted Forest, somewhere near the troll bridge on a log (about four years after a certain tavern meeting)** _

 

“ _Regina what's wrong?”, Robin asked her holding her as she didn't stop sobbing.  
Finally she lifted her face from his shirt and looked at his face.  
_ “ _What's wrong?”, he asked her again._

“ _He's going to kill me. And Snow but he'll likely kill me first”, she said._

“ _Who's going to kill you?”_

“ _My husband”, she said._

“ _What could you have possibly done that he would do such a thing?”, Robin asked her._

“ _She's pregnant”, Regina said._

“ _What?”_

“ _Snow's pregnant and her father is going to kill us or likely everyone in the castle but he'll definitely kill me and her.”_

“ _Are you sure she's pregnant?”_

“ _Positive”, Regina said and continued seeing Robin's confused look, “our chef is a wolf and she confirmed it.”_

“ _Can you trust her?”, Robin asked._

“ _I once saved her granddaughter when she was shot by a hunter and healed her with magic. So the chef knows I have magic and I know she's wolf, so yeah, yeah I can trust her.”_

“ _Maybe he won't kill you”, Robin said although that sounded unbelievable even to his own ears._

“ _She's fourteen”, Regina said, “he will kill us. My own dad, who is the loveliest men I've ever known, would kill me if I were fourteen years of age and pregnant.”_

_They sat in silence for a moment before Robin spoke up, “what if he died before he ever knew about the pregnancy?”_

“ _Huh?”, Regina said._

“ _He's not the youngest anymore and he almost died of pneumonia last winter so yeah what if he died quite soon?”_

“ _Are you suggesting what I think you are?”, Regina asked Robin not quite believing her ears._

“ _All I'm saying is that maybe that would be better in the end. And there's a potion I know of that can't be traced back to anything and it would look like he died of a natural cause.”_

“ _I need to sleep a day on it”, Regina said after a while, ”but you're probably right.”_

“ _Meet me here tomorrow, same time”, Robin said before they both got up and moved along their separate ways._  
  
_Regina didn't sleep that night. She had been thinking for hours._  
_Would killing Leopold be the solution to this mess?_  
_She didn't want to take another parent away from Snow but on the other hand she had gotten to know her husband quite well over the last couple of years even though he was avoiding her at most times and still mourned his dead first wife._

 _Which she wasn't complaining about because that gave her less time to spend with him and more time to spend with Snow and Robin and Roland and Rocinante._  
_She had gotten to know the king quite well and maybe he wouldn't kill his own daughter because he loved her too much but he would somehow make sure that the child inside her wouldn't survive and that was one thing that Snow would never fully be able to accept and get over._  
_So eventually after hours on contemplating her decision Regina knew what she had to do._  
  
_On the next day she met Robin as promised._

“ _I'll do it”, Regina said._

“ _We”, Robin said, “are in this together.”_

_He hugged her then and kissed her forehead._

“ _Here”, he said giving her a small flacon that she quickly hid in a pocket under her robe, “he just needs to drink or eat it, once is enough.”_

_Regina nodded, “you can't see me for a few months from now on. I need to be the mourning queen who lost her husband and I need to be there for Snow.  
However there will be a celebration in ten weeks time for Snow's fifteenth birthday. As usual the whole land is invited so you should come, too.”_

“ _I will”, Robin said smiling sadly, “so this is goodbye, then?”_

“ _For now.”_

 

_ **Around the same time in the land of Oz** _

 

“ _What do you want?”, Zelena asked the imp that appeared in front of her._

“ _Oh what a nice welcome, dearie”, he said, “well I can offer you a deal.”  
_  
“ _What could you possibly give me that I wanted to have?”, Zelena asked knowing quite well who Rumplestiltskin was and that he was one of the most powerful men in existence, the Dark One._

“ _Well I know what you desire most”, he said, “and that quite frankly I can give to you.”_

“ _Ah and what would 'that' be?”, Zelena asked still doubting him._

“ _Your sister's misery of course. And maybe you also wouldn't mind not turning green anymore?”_

_He's had her there._

“ _So what could you possibly want from me?”, she asked because all magic comes with a price, dark magic that is and the Dark One was as dark as can be._

_Rumplestiltskin smiled, “well as you may not know this but I have a son and he's at the moment in another world. A world without ...magic. And therefore I can't get to him. Well there is a way but I myself can't use it.”_

“ _You're talking in riddles. What does that have to do with me?”, she asked._

“ _Well I need the most powerful witch to cast a curse that transports all people from one land into the land without magic. And well dearie that means I need YOU.”_

“ _So all I do is cast a curse and that should solve all our problems?”, Zelena asked._

“ _Ah you see, the curse is not just any curse but the darkest one of them all. As I said all people from one land will be transported to the land without magic. But of course there's a catch, no one, aside the person who casts the curse, will remember who they are.  
__Also the person casting the curse can design it a bit. For instance let's say your sister could have quite the miserable life while you could rule the new created place you'll all be living in. How does that sound?”_

“ _What about you? I thought you wanted to get there to see your son how will you do that if you won't have your memories?”_

“ _Ah don't worry about me, dearie, I'll find I way. I always do. So what do you say?”, he asked._

“ _Well just give me the damn curse so I can cast it”, Zelena said._

“ _Nah na, not so fast”, the Dark One said, “first of I still need to give you quite a few more lessons in magic to show you how to control it more. And also I don't quite have the curse. It's in your sister's land in the possession of a dragon named Maleficent._  
So we need to get there first and get it and then of course cast it in your sister's land and not here.”  
  
Zelena smiled then, “deal. I can't wait to make her life a living hell. I'm the older one I should have gotten everything she has. But instead I'm a witch that turns green and she's a beautiful queen who has everything.”

“ _We'll see about that”, the Dark One said before vanishing into a cloud of dark red smoke._

 

_ **Storybrooke, Maine, present** _

 

Regina had been quite busy. She still needed to put up some Halloween decorations at the bar later during the day for the upcoming holiday.  
Luckily for her Ruby had already promised her she'd help her during the actual holiday celebrations the week after as her grandmother had given her that weekend off.  
Regina was really grateful for the help that she desperately needed but couldn't afford.  
Not with the upcoming increase of taxes for food and beverages in town.  
  
She was so grateful for having friends like Ruby and her grandmother. Granny and Regina really seemed to get along fine. Sometimes it felt like the old woman owning the town's diner was really looking out for her and her boys.  
It was wonderful to have someone like her especially since Regina couldn't remember her own mother. It had always just been her dad and her two boys. Well just Roland in the beginning but soon after Henry had joined their little family.

As soon as Regina had left the house to get to work Henry and Roland ran from the kitchen to their room as fast as they could.

“What is it that couldn't wait?”, Roland asked his younger brother who was pulling something from his backpack.  
  
“My teacher gave this to me”, he said and turned to his brother, “it's a book of fairy tales. But not the way they are written in most books but the way that grandpa tells them.”  
  
“Maybe grandpa has read the book and thinks it's all real”, Roland said trying to be reasonable.  
  
“No”, Henry said, “that's not just it. There's pictures too in it. And I'm sure I've seen you in there. And my teacher and mom.”  
  
Now Roland got curious, “pictures?”  
  
Henry opened the book and showed it to Roland properly now, “here, my teacher looks like Snow White.”  
He skipped a few pages then, “and there is mom.”  
  
Roland couldn't deny it either, “that really does look like mom. What's her story and who is she in the book?”  
  
“I haven't had the chance to read much yet”, Henry said, “but she's the queen in Snow White's story.”  
  
“You mean mom is the Evil Queen?”, Roland asked.  
  
“No you see, in this story of Snow White the queen never turned evil. She has always been good”, Henry said.  
  
“Does that mean that your teacher is our sister then?”, Roland asked, “and who are you in the story?”  
  
Henry sighed, “I don't think I'm in the book.”  
  
“Well we should find out and even if you're not in it, maybe there's a logical explanation for that”, Roland said before both boys started to read the fairy tale book together.  
  
Three pages in Roland got up from the floor and grabbed a pen and a notebook, “I'll make a list”, he said starting to write down characters and their real life names.  
  
“So grandpa's stories about the flying monkeys might be real?”, Henry asked, “I don't remember anything.”  
  
“Maybe there's an explanation for that. There's only one odd thing I recently noticed”, Roland said, “sometimes I think I remember sleeping in some kind of tent in the forest which wouldn't be odd but mom said I've never in my life gone camping.”  
  
“So what shall we do now?”, Henry asked his brother.  
  
“We need to look for more clues and we should probably listen to grandpa more carefully maybe he has some more interesting information for us. And we should keep this a secret from mom she already thinks grandpa is totally crazy with his storytelling.”  
  
About an hour later the two boys had read the entire book once, “so according to the book the queen lived happily ever after with Robin Hood”, Roland said.  
  
“I guess we should find that man then”, Henry said smiling, “though I haven't seen a picture of Robin's face in the book. He's always wearing a cape or you can only see his back.”  
  
“Hmmm”, Roland mumbled skimming through some pages, “there. You don't see his face but this looks like a tattoo on his arm.”  
  
“What is it though?”  
  
“A lion, maybe?”  
  
“Yeah definitely looks like a lion”, Henry said smiling.  
  
“So we need to find the man with the lion tattoo”, Roland said.  
  
“Operation: Lion Tattoo is a go.”

The next morning the boys went into the kitchen for breakfast and were quite surprised to only find their grandfather sitting at the table.  
  
“Morning gramps,” Roland said.  
  
“Morning you two”, he smiled.  
  
“Where's mom?”, Henry asked.  
  
“She just quickly had to run to the shops. She'll be back soon to take you to school.”  
  
Roland already ran out off the room. This was their chance.  
  
“Ok so then we don't have much time. But a bit”, Henry started rambling, “my teacher gave me a book, a book about fairytales.”  
  
“Aha”, his grandfather said.  
  
By the time Roland was already back with the book, “don't show it to mom she will think we're all craycray. But we think the stories you're telling us, are real. We believe you.”  
  
He couldn't believe what they were saying. He had to hug both boys and was almost crying by now. It had been years. Ten years of no one believing him that finally he had hope again. It had been more years, many more but ten years ago time started ticking again. That had been right after Henry had arrived on their front door. And now ten years later eventually he had hope that this curse could be broken.  
  
He let them go, because they really didn't have much time until Regina would return, “so you've read of the curse.”  
  
“We have”, Roland said, “and we've made a list with people from here and who they are in the book, look”, he then gave the list to his grandpa.  
  
“All correct”, the old man said reading the notes. And for the first time in years he was actually smiling again.  
“Let's talk more later, after school”, he said then, “eat your breakfast and get ready before your mom comes back. I'll hide the book in the meantime. And I'll add to the list whoever I remember later on.”  
  
“I've never seen grandpa this happy”, Roland said.  
  
“Me neither”, Henry agreed taking a bite from his toast whilst drinking his cocoa with cinnamon.

When Regina finally arrived back home a few minutes later, Henry and Roland had already put on their shoes.  
“Wow”, she said, “now that's a surprise”.  
  
Usually they were almost late, like every day.  
  
“Morning mom”, they both said in unison smiling.  
  
Something was up with them, she thought, they were way too happy for that time of the day. Not that they didn't like school usually. Because they did and that was good. One thing less to worry about for her. But they were rarely this happy at such an early hour.  
“Morning boys”, she said hugging both of them, “well let's go then.”

As Regina had dropped them off at school Roland and Henry still had a few minutes to spare before they had to go into the building so they were waiting next to the entrance for their friends to arrive.  
Regina had quickly said bye to the boys and to their head teacher Miss Blanchard who was standing a few meters away from the boys.

“I'm wondering if grandpa knows anything about..”, Henry started but then trailed off.  
  
“Dad?”, Roland continued for him as his brother just nodded.  
  
His attention got carried away for a moment though as he saw the mayor's husband walking past the school, “Morning Mr. Locksley”, he said loudly.  
  
Robin waved at the boys, “morning”, as he continued walking towards his work place a little further down the road.  
  
Henry sighed, talking to his brother, “I don't get what he sees in that wicked woman he is married to.”

Roland nodded, “me neither. Especially after I had that internship at his' a few months ago. He's such a nice and wonderful man and his wife is just not.”  
  
Henry sniggered.  
  
“What?”  
  
“You said his wife is not a man”, he said between laughs.  
  
Roland smacked his arm lightly, “that's not what I meant, you dwarf”, but he had to laugh as well imagining the mayor as a man.  
  
It was then, that Henry's friends arrived and Henry walked into the building with them.  
  
Roland was still outside a few more moments until his best friend Paige arrived and they too walked to their class room.

 

_ **The Enchanted Forest** _

 

 _It had been months now since that fateful day that Regina had found out that Snow was pregnant._  
  
By now Leopold had been dead for a few weeks. It had been hard on Snow at first but she had slowly started coping with it.  
  
_Snow's fifteenth birthday had just been last week which meant that she was about five months pregnant and about a month ago, right after her father had died her boyfriend, David, had moved into her room with her._  
  
_Regina had thought that it might help Snow with her grief to have her boyfriend around and as the princess was already pregnant she didn't see any harm in him being around her all the time. She wanted the girl to have some kind of the happiness that had been denied to herself._

_At least on a public level and in her past that is. In all truth though she herself had started seeing Robin again a fortnight ago._

_And having David here would also help her a little as Snow wouldn't constantly be on her heels. She loved the girl. She really did but damn was she noisy at times._

_Regina was also finally after a few weeks now starting to wear a happier colours once again._

_She had been wearing black for a few weeks now to represent the mourning queen. But after all it was summer. It was hot and she couldn't stand to look so sad anymore. So she was quite fond of being able to wear her more lighter coloured outfits again._

 

_ **Roughly around the same time in a quite green little land called Oz** _

 

 _It had been months now since Rumple had told Zelena about the curse. And she really couldn't wait to finally cast it._  
  
_She and Rumple had been spying on her sister's life quite a lot in recent weeks and it irked Zelena so much. Her sister seemed to get even happier every damn day._  
  
_Her husband had died a few weeks ago. Zelena still hadn't figured out how Regina had done that but she was quite sure it was her sister's doing. One simply just did not inherit a whole kingdom._  
  
_That damn woman couldn't have that much luck._  
  
_She'd become queen over a whole land. Had met this really good looking and apparently wonderful man who lived in the woods. Yeah that part about him was weird. But well they seemed quite content and her step daughter seemed to love her as well._

 _Her father was around very often and she seemed to enjoy his company a lot as well._  
 _This just wasn't fair._  
  
_Her precious little sister had everything and she had nothing. Nothing but all green around her and monkeys surrounding her and a weird looking imp who had really unusual ways to teach her magic._  
  
_Oh how she couldn't wait for that day when she would finally be able to cast that bloody curse._  
  
_She had to smile thinking about it. Oh dear, this would be perfect._  
  
_She'd take apart her precious little sister's life._  
  
_She couldn't wait for Regina to have nothing. Nothing but a sad sad life with way too many obstacles._  
 _Little did Zelena know that Regina was the person with the most resilient heart but for now Zelena was very very excited to make her sister suffer._


	3. 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Thank you all so much for the totally lovely feedback. It's so wonderful and inspiring so please keep that up and let me know if you still like the story.  
> Also I'm sorry that it took me quite a while now to update this but work has recently kept me quite busy so I didn't find much time to write or think about ideas.  
> Without further ado I'd like to give you the next chapter and I hope you like it. :)

 

_ **The Enchanted Forest (a few days later)** _

 

 

_There was a knock on her door, “come in”, she said and soon after Snow entered her room._  
  
“I'd like to meet him”, Snow just blurted out.  
  
Regina raised an eyebrow, “you'd like to meet who?”  
  
“The man you've been seeing, Gina”, Snow said and Regina had to swallow hard, “don't worry. I'm happy for you. You seem happy and it suits you. I like seeing you like this. Maybe you could invite him for dinner. Just a small dinner with David and us”, Snow said beaming.   
  
Regina was still stunned, “sure.”  
  
“maybe tomorrow?”, Snow asked her stepmother.   
  
“I need to ask him and I don't know if he'll be able to leave his son with anyone on such short notice”, Regina said.  
  
“Just tell him to bring him along”, Snow said and before she left the room she stepped forward, hugging Regina, “I really am happy for you.”

 

 

“ _So Snow found out about us”, Regina said about two hours later to Robin whilst sitting next to him on a log near a fire at his camp._

_Robin just stared at her and waited for her to continue whilst his mind was already calculating how long it would take him to pack the essentials to run away with Regina and Roland._  
  
“She'd like to meet you”, Regina said smiling now.   
  
“She, she does?”, Robin asked.  
  
“She'd like to meet you and Roland, maybe over dinner, tomorrow?”, Regina said more than asked.  
  
“Dinner?”, Robin knew dinner in Regina's world was a whole lot of a different affair than dinner in his world. And he honestly didn't want to have Roland surrounded with all these people he didn't know.  
  
“Just her, her boyfriend and us”, Regina said.  
  
Robin nodded slowly, “that sounds good, I guess?”  
  
“Relax, Snow talked to me and she has realised that I looked happier and she likes me being happy. I mean I haven't told her how long we've been seeing each other and I obviously haven't told her about recent events but don't be afraid. She will like you.”  
  
“Of course”, Robin said silently agreeing that they needed to keep their secret about Leopold a secret. They wouldn't ever tell anyone. 

 

 

_Later that night Robin was walking in circles around the camp fire. Regina had gone back to the castle a few hours ago and Roland and most of Robin's friends were asleep by now._  
  
“So what has you so nervous?”, little John asked then sitting on a log watching Robin walk in circles in front of him.   
  
“Roland, Regina and me are having dinner with the princess and her boyfriend tomorrow”, Robin said.  
  
John had to laugh slightly at that, “so you have a sheriff on your heels, you're seeing the queen of this country and no one knows of it but you're afraid to have dinner with your girlfriend's stepdaughter?”  
  
“And her boyfriend. What if they don't like me or Roland? Or what if we don't like them?”  
  
“Have you met a single person that hasn't instantly fallen for Roland? And also of what I've heard of the princess she seems like a nice girl and Regina is getting a long with her quite well so you should give them a shot. 

_Aside that free dinner at the palace? Well if you change your mind and don't want to go I'll gladly take Roland and spend time with your woman.”_  
  
Robin rolled his eyes. John had a point though, he was being ridiculous. 

 

 

_The next few hours went by quickly and soon David, Snow, Robin, Roland and Regina were having dinner in the smaller dining room in the castle close to the kitchen._  
Regina had told the chef and her kitchen staff to take the rest of the day off a little while before her guests had arrived.   
She had figured Robin would be more comfortable with having less to none staff around and in all honesty so was she herself.   
  
They had just finished the main course and Snow and her went to the kitchen to get the apple pie that Regina had baked for pudding.

“ _You should get married”, Snow said as soon as the two women were out of ear shot from the men._  
  
Regina stopped in her tracks, “pardon?”  
  
“The way you two look at each other. It's like, I don't know but I've never seen you any happier than you seem to be around him and I may be naive but believe me I know you've been sneaking out the castle in recent years and I can't say I blame you. I never have.   
I know my father was way older than you and we both know he's never gotten over my mother's death. So I'm happy you found some happiness in your life as well.  
Also if you'd marry Robin he could just live here in the castle with his son and we could possibly find some jobs here as well for his friends if they'd like to. Things would be easier in general for everyone.   
Aside that it hasn't been long since my father has died but I've already heard people trying to want to set you up with other royals or men that could possibly rule a kingdom because who trusts a woman with that?”   
Snow rolled her eyes at that part, “so well you could have some rest from the nasty people as well if you'd marry Robin.   
I mean not that you'd need a man at your side to rule. I've known you for some years now and you've been a wonderful support for my dad and now after his death you've proven to be a very good ruler and leader yourself but it might be wonderful to have someone by your side that supports you. Don't you think?”

__  
“I don't know what to say”, Regina said truthfully.  
  
Snow smiled at her, “just think about it, please.”  
  
Regina exhaled, “I will.”  
  
“Now we should probably head back to them and give Roland the pudding he's been waiting for”,   
Snow said grabbing the pie before adding, “oh and by the way he'd be the cutest little brother I could ever ask for.”  
  
Before Regina could even reply Snow was out of the door and she had no other choice but to follow her little princess back into the dining room. 

 

_Regina spent the next few minutes thinking about what Snow had just said and somehow she couldn't find any reason why she shouldn't marry Robin._  
She had to admit to herself that she quite enjoyed the dinner they had today.   
David, Robin, Roland, Snow and herself. And selfishly as it might be she wanted to have more of that.   
Roland and Snow made each other laugh a lot and he told the princess all about living in the forest which to Regina's surprise Snow seemed to be really interested it.   
David and Robin seemed to get along great as well. Even though she knew that Robin had been really nervous about meeting Snow and David in the beginning but she noticed that it had taken him only a couple of minutes to warm up to the young couple.   
Regina wished she could capture this moment for ever. 

“ _So Roland, would you like me to show you all the rest of the castle?”, Snow asked as they had all finished their pudding._  
  
“Can David come to?”, Roland asked excited which surprised Robin as his son wasn't usually liking new people so fast.  
  
“Sure, if he wants to”, Snow said and David smiled so they got up from their chairs and then David picked up Roland to carry him around the castle on his shoulders as it was huge so he could see everything better.   
  
That left Regina and Robin alone in the dining room.   
  
“You seem to have enjoyed the evening so far?”, Regina asked Robin and he nodded smiling.  
  
“I didn't think I would enjoy it this much, to be honest, but I have to say I did”, he said.   
  
“What would you say if we did this on a more regular basis? I mean dinner here with Snow and David and Roland?”, Regina was slowly getting lost in her own words.  
  
“Well as much as I'd love to do that it would be quite difficult to keep this a secret from all of your staff for long”, Robin said sighing. He really did want to spend more time with Regina and her family. Especially after seeing her in secret for the last four years but this really seemed risky to him.   
It was different here than keeping something like this a secret with his group of friends. They were first of all not that many people and he knew that he could trust them with his life and even Regina's.   
But at the castle worked so many people that he didn't know and doubted Regina even knew all of them fully nor could she trust all of them.   
  
“We could just not hide it anymore”, Regina said.   
  
“Regina, I can't just casually walk up to the castle and have dates with the queen. I mean I could but you know what I mean how would that work?”

“ _That's not what I meant. I mean I really enjoyed tonight and I'd like you and Roland to move into the castle with us”, Regina said._

“ _Regina? What are you saying?”, Robin asked her now more curiously._  
  
“I'd like you and Roland to become a part of my family. I mean officially”, she said.  
  
Robin smiled then, “are you asking me to marry you by any chance?”  
  
“Well if you put it that way”, Regina said smiling, “it would most certainly be a necessary step as as you said you can't just really walk into the castle of a queen and just stay there forever - but more importantly I'm asking you and Roland as well to become a part of our family.   
Snow would really like that too and she's just told me she would love to have Roland as little brother, so this is me asking you if you two would like to be part of this family.   
And I don't expect you to answer this right away as you should talk to Roland about it and think about it some more. But know this, I would like nothing more than to have you both here with us.”  
  
“Regina?”, Robin said brushing his thumb across her hand to get her attention as she'd started staring at his hand quite a while ago.  
  
She looked up at his face then.  
  
“On behalf of Roland and I, I'd very much like to accept your offer.”  
  
“But you haven't talked to Roland yet, you should do that first”, Regina said, “what if he isn't happy with this? I would never want to force anything like this on him.”  
  
“I'm glad that his opinion is so important to you. But I have to say this is not only affecting his life but ours as well and selfishly as that may sound I'd love to marry you and be a part of your family”, Robin said which had Regina confused as she couldn't believe how Robin seemed to not care what his son's opinion on all this would be.   
He continued then, “aside that I've talked on various occasions in the past with Roland when he had been really sad after you'd once again left or before you'd come to meet us again and by all means, ask my son but I'm certainly sure he'd accept your proposal in a heartbeat.”  
  
Regina slapped him lightly on his arm then, “you bastard, there I was thinking you cared so little about his opinion.”  
  
Robin chuckled, “I'm sorry but I just had to tease you a bit.”   
  
He then got up from his place across from her and walked over to her to give her a kiss on her lips, “I love you, Regina.”  
  
“I know”, she said, “don't ever do that again though.”  


 

 

__ **Around the same time in the land of Oz**   
  


 

_It's been a couple of days since Zelena has met the one person so far who actually understands her._  
Not that the Dark One didn't help her. No, he was pretty much doing an amazing job in helping Zelena and teaching her what he knows of.   
But quite recently another man had walked into her life.  
Hades.   
Yes, as she had quickly found out the God of the Underworld had found a way to Oz and to her to be more precise.   
Also he had told her that he basically faced the same fate as she did.   
His brother, Zeus got everything he ever desired. And he himself, well he got to rule over the Underworld and this simply wasn't fair.   
Zelena didn't quite know what to make out of this God of the Underworld yet but she had to admit that it was quite something to finally for once in your life have met somebody who understands you on that level and is also intelligent enough to make something out of this.   
As of now he was becoming quite an interesting ally as he wanted to get to the land without magic as well and therefore decided to help her.   
But Zelena couldn't quite ignore the fact that understanding her on such a deep level was really truly beautiful and unique.   
Zelena herself wouldn't say she loved him, not yet anyway. But if you asked anyone who happened to witness them flirting recently that person would likely say she was about to start falling for him. 

 

 

 

**Storybrooke, Maine**

 

“So grandpa, how did we all get here?”, Henry asked.   
  
It was a good thing that Henry had already known that he was adopted. He had figured that out a few years ago. Regina had never made a secret out of it and one day Henry had simply asked if Roland was his brother because they were both so different. Roland had always been really good at sports and crafts and Henry was more into writing and all kinds of logical challenges. There were still a lot of things that both boys enjoyed doing together but Henry had found it odd and had asked his mom about it.  
So she had then simply sat both of her boys down in the kitchen after having dinner and explained to them that she had adopted Henry after finding him outside her house years ago and that he may not be blood related to her but that didn't mean she loved him any less than Roland.   
That talk had gone surprisingly good back then.  
It was really good they had had this talk back then because that gave Henry Sr. a better opportunity to tell the truth about how they had gotten into this world without having to leave out any parts.   
  
“Well the land that we, well most everyone but you”, he looked at Henry, “were from got cursed and after that curse had hit the land the next thing I knew I was waking up in this land. In this house with having only Roland and your mom around me.”  
  
“So mom really was queen of that land?”, Henry asked.  
  
“She was”, their grandfather said, “and she was happy. She was living in a castle with her stepdaughter, some other people, me, Roland and your father”, he was looking at Roland then.  
  
“My father?”, Roland just asked, “do you know who my father is?”  
  
“Robin”, he said, “of Locksley.”  
  
“The mayor's husband?”, Henry asked.  
  
The old man nodded, “that one. But I'm not sure if they ever got married in this land or if most people over here simply just woke up with cursed memories. Your aunt just might have made him not remember a thing of his previous life with Regina and you”, he was looking at Roland saying this.   
  
“Our aunt?”, Roland asked.  
  
“The mayor. She's your mom's sister, well half sister and she's the one who cast the curse over our land out of spite wanting to make your mom's life miserable.”  
  
“Wow that's bad”, Henry sighed.   
  
“So how do we get dad away from her and back to us?”, Roland asked.

“There's one more thing”, their grandfather said, “it's not as easy as to just have him back here. To break the curse your parents need to find their way back to each other again.”  
  
“How do you know that?”, Roland asked curious.

“Because I was there when Zelena came to your mom's castle and told everyone that she would curse all of us and the whole land.  
She said that they'd have to find one another again and truly connect on all levels otherwise everyone would be stuck in some kind of eternal middle.”  
  
“Is there a way we can maybe help with that? Try to somehow play matchmaker?”, Henry asked then surprising both his grandpa and his brother with his choice of words. He was really a smart kid for his young age.   
  
“Well it doesn't say anywhere we couldn't”, his grandfather said, “but we should make sure not not interfere too much but I'm sure we could certainly throw them some breadcrumbs.”   
  
“So well do you know if Robin is going to be at the annual Halloween celebration at the bar?”, Henry asked.  
  
“Well”, Roland said, “has he ever skipped one? So I think yeah we will likely be lucky to have him there in a few days.”  
  
“Which is great as that's one of the few times a year your mom is actually ok with both of you being at the bar”, their grandfather said smiling.   
  
“Yeah”, Henry nodded, “I can't wait to go and see what everyone's gonna be dressed up as.” 

“So how do we call this Operation?”, their grandfather asked because he new his two grandkids well enough to know that they'd give their little adventures these cute names.  
  
Roland smiled, “well Henry and me decided to call it 'Lion Tattoo' when we found the book.”

Henry Sr. smiled at that, “oh that's perfect.”

 

 


End file.
